Woman`s Body Found In Car By Highway

July 19, 1985

A 21-year-old woman, last seen alive at a convenience store after driving friends home from church services, was found stabbed to death early Thursday in her parked car along Int. Hwy. 57 near Oak Forest.

State police identified the victim as Angela Sanders, formerly of 7825 S. Paulina St., who had lived for the last four months with friends at 17010 Novak St., Hazel Crest.

Trooper Joseph Chiappini of the Crestwood state police post said the car, with the woman hanging out from the front seat, was seen near the 167th Street interchange at 1:10 a.m. by Oak Forest police on routine patrol.

Thinking the woman might be ill or in need of help, they drove onto the expressway and found she had been stabbed five times in the chest.

Police said the victim`s car, a 1980 blue Toyota, which was parked on the shoulder of the highway, had a full tank of gas and the keys in the ignition. The woman`s purse was missing, however, leading police to suspect robbery as the motive for the slaying.

The victim was pronounced dead at South Suburban Hospital, Hazel Crest.

Master Sgt. Roger Shiels, an investigator with the state police, said Sanders, who worked as a maid in the Palmer House, had attended services Wednesday night at Christ Bible Center, 134 E. 111th St., Chicago.

Police were told the woman drove a couple and their child to their home near 128th and Halsted Streets after the service. They said they were able to trace her movements after that to a gas station market at 127th Street near the expressway, where she stopped for a snack at 12:25 a.m., about 40 minutes before police found her body.

Police said there was no damage to her car that would indicate the car had been forced off the road.